I lost my Spanish nationality and I didn't know!

Yes, that's correct, just as you're reading. Did you know that you can lose your Spanish nationality if you became American? That's right, if you became a U.S. citizen and didn’t apply for retention within three years of acquiring U.S. nationality, you have lost your Spanish nationality. How is that possible? Let me explain: The United States and Spain do not have a dual nationality agreement, but Spain, understanding the migration issue, allows its Spanish citizens to acquire U.S. nationality and inform the Spanish government through its consulates within a period of three years in order to retain their Spanish nationality.

Now, how can it be that there’s no agreement and I lose my nationality if I never renounced it? That’s the question we get from all of our clients, and the answer is, yes, you lost your Spanish nationality. When you took the oath before the U.S. government, you declared that you renounced all nationalities, just as you declared when you obtained your U.S. citizenship in the following words during your oath:

"I hereby declare, under oath, that I absolutely and completely renounce all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of which I have been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will take up arms in behalf of the United States when required by law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by law; and that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God."

But don’t worry, if you didn’t apply for retention within those three years, you can still recover your Spanish nationality through a recovery process. What is recovery or retention? It’s a marginal note on your birth certificate, which is made once you sign a statement before the Civil Registry officer at the Consulate. This note states that you chose U.S. nationality but still retain or have recovered your Spanish nationality, meaning, for Spanish purposes, you remain Spanish.

Written by Ángeles, our CEO